Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume gets prison

A New York City choose’s son who stormed the U.S. Capitol sporting a furry “caveman” costume was sentenced on Friday to eight months in prison.

U.S. District Choose James Boasberg said Aaron Mostofsky was “literally on the front traces” of the mob’s assault on Jan. 6, 2021.

“What you and others did on that day imposed an indelible stain on how our nation is perceived, both at dwelling and abroad, and that may’t be undone,” the decide advised Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg also sentenced Mostofsky to at least one year of supervised release and ordered him to perform 200 hours of neighborhood service and pay $2,000 in restitution.

Mostofsky had asked the choose for mercy, saying he was ashamed of his “contribution to the chaos of that day.”

“I feel sorry for the officers that needed to cope with that chaos,” said Mostofsky, who should report to prison in approximately one month.

Mostofsky was carrying a walking stick and dressed in a furry costume when he joined the mob that attacked the Capitol. He advised a pal that the costume expressed his perception that “even a caveman” would know that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.

Additionally on Friday, a federal judge agreed to postpone a trial in July for members of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group charged with conspiring to forcefully halt the peaceful transfer of power after President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

A first jury trial for 5 of nine Oath Keepers members charged with seditious conspiracy, together with group founder Stewart Rhodes, is now scheduled to begin on Sept. 26 and is anticipated to final a couple of month. A second trial for the opposite 4 defendants is scheduled to start out on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Choose Amit Mehta agreed to give protection attorneys more time to prepare for trial however indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant one other delay. A number of defense attorneys expressed concern about the possible affect if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report across the same time as the first trial. Mehta stated that wouldn’t be a reason for another delay, “even if 435 members of Congress start studying from the report on the courthouse steps.”

More than 780 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. Over 280 of them have pleaded responsible, principally to misdemeanors.

A Tennessee man, Albuquerque Head, pleaded responsible on Friday to assaulting Metropolitan Police Department Officer Michael Fanone. Head pulled Fanone into a crowd of rioters who beat him, shocked him with a stun gun and stole his badge and police radio. An Iowa man, Kyle Younger, pleaded responsible on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was seriously injured by rioters and has since testified earlier than Congress in regards to the attack.

More than 160 defendants have been sentenced, together with over 60 who've been sentenced to phrases of imprisonment starting from 14 days to five years and three months.

In Mostofsky’s case, federal sentencing pointers really useful a jail sentence starting from 10 months to 16 months. Prosecutors really helpful a sentence of 15 months in prison adopted by three years of supervised launch.

Mostofsky was one of the first rioters to enter the restricted space around the Capitol and among the many first to breach the constructing itself, via the Senate Wing doors, in keeping with prosecutors. He pushed towards a police barrier that officers had been trying to maneuver and stole a Capitol Police bulletproof vest and riot protect, prosecutors mentioned.

“Mostofsky cheered on different rioters as they clashed with police outside the Capitol building, even celebrating with a fist-bump to one among his fellow rioters,” prosecutors wrote in a courtroom filing.

Contained in the building, Mostofsky adopted rioters who chased Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman up a staircase towards the Senate chambers. He took the police vest and shield with him when he left the Capitol, about 20 minutes after coming into.

Mostofsky continuously wears costumes at events, in line with his lawyers.

“To put the matter with understatement, the New Yorker is quirky even by the requirements of his home metropolis,” they wrote.

A New York Post reporter interviewed him contained in the Capitol during the riot. He told the reporter that he stormed the Capitol because “the election was stolen.”

Mostofsky has labored as an assistant architect in New York. His father, Steven Mostofsky, is a state courtroom judge in Brooklyn.

“The fact that his father is a judge means that he ought to have been higher in a position than different defendants to know why the claims of election fraud were false,” said Justice Department prosecutor Michael Romano.

Boasberg stated not one of the supportive letters submitted by Mostofsky’s household and buddies clarify how he “went down this rabbit hole of election fantasy.”

“I hope at this level you perceive that your indulgence in that fantasy has led to this tragic scenario,” the choose added.

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded responsible in February to a felony charge of civil dysfunction and misdemeanor prices of theft of presidency property and entering and remaining in a restricted constructing or grounds. Mostofsky was the primary Capitol rioter to be sentenced for a civil dysfunction conviction.

Mostofsky’s attorneys requested for a sentence of dwelling confinement, probation and neighborhood service. Defense attorney Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “drifted with the crowd” and didn’t go to the Capitol to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power.

“He did things he shouldn't have finished,” Smith stated. “However there’s a big distinction between an ideologue who's motivated to commit violence and somebody who ends up doing unhealthy issues after they find” themselves in a crowd.